I have never done it but here are reasons that I don't want to do it and I am sure others share the same views.

1.) Heat & Humidity- It is always freaking hot!! usually in the 90's. The south and August are just a bad combination IMO.

2.) Non-wetsuit swim- Not really a huge deal but to some it may be.

3.) TT Swim- For those who have never done an IM before, they might not like this swim. You have to stand in line and you jump in the water based upon where you stand in line. If the last person enters the water 40mins after the first person, they still have 2:20 to do the swim but they still need to make the midnight cutoff. This means, depending on where you are in line you might have only 16:20 to finish instead of 17hrs and that might scare some folks.

4.) Bike course problems- I hear that over the past year or 2 or 3 they have had problems with a section of the bike course that goes through a certain town or county where they do not like the Ironman and dont want them on their roads. As a result, they have tacked the roads in the past and lots of people have gotten flats. Not sure how true it is but have heard from several people it has happened on more then 1 occasion.

5.) Did I mention the heat??

Try living here... lol. I have to train like this every day....

Also, It can still be 100 and humid in September here... From the end of May to the end of October, It's hit and miss if it will be 65 and breezy or 100 and humid.

On whether Mike Reilly will be at Louisville this year, he will not be there. He tweeted at the beginning of the year his schedule. Here is where he will be this year.

Auckland 70.3

IM New Zealand

IM Melbourne

Oceanside 70.3

IM Texas

IM Coeur d'alen

IM Frankfurt

IM Lake Placid

IM Mont Treblant

IM Wisconsin

IM Lake Tahoe

IM Hawaii

IM Arizona

Mike Reilly mispronounced my name at IM-WI so hopefully whoever is announcing at IM-Lou will get it right. ;-)

Most likely the 2 announcers will be Dave Ragsdale and Tom Ziebart. Dave has announced IM Florida for the past two years. He also announces many IM 70.3 races including the Ironman World Championship 70.3 in Vegas. Tom Ziebart is probably best known as an IM 70.3 race director (IM 70.3 Florida, among others).

That's unfortunate Mike Riley not being there this year, when I did the race in 2011 he actually said my name right, which rarely happens.

Hopefully whoever is announcing this year will see that my name is pronounced JILL-ian not JUL-ian (never fails, at almost every race that is announced or at awards it always get pronounced like that, in my head its like nails on a chalkboard)

I think this race got a bad rap due to the heat + humidity from people who aren't used to racing in it. Seriously. I don't hear this complaint coming from folks who live in similar climates - at all.

In 2011 I trained in what the Weather Channel named the "Heat Dome" with something like 40 continuous days over 100 degrees. EVERY long ride and run it hit 100 degrees. So when I got to Louisville, the highs in the upper 80s felt great. Even 90s would have felt better than the 105-110 temps I had trained in.

But people (mostly those who came from cooler climates) STILL complained up and down about how hot it was.

It's Louisville. It will be hot.

Exactly. I live in Dallas, TX and the bulk of my training for IMKY was in the summer. It is hot, humid and windy here. I trained in the exact conditions I raced in. Yep, the 95 degree day I had was fine in 2008, since I was use to 100+ degree days. I wasn't bothered by the heat, but a lot people were.

That's unfortunate Mike Riley not being there this year, when I did the race in 2011 he actually said my name right, which rarely happens.

Hopefully whoever is announcing this year will see that my name is pronounced JILL-ian not JUL-ian (never fails, at almost every race that is announced or at awards it always get pronounced like that, in my head its like nails on a chalkboard)

In 2008 my announcer couldn't say KAREN properly. Yeah. When I crossed the link at IMTX last year, Mike said my name properly. It was cool.

I am still on the fence about IM Louisville. I just watched the bike course on youtube. The out and back looks to be the toughest part of the bike. I have a standard crank on my tri bike. Would I better off with a compact crank for this IM?

iruptacopula - 2013-03-20 4:00 PM I am still on the fence about IM Louisville. I just watched the bike course on youtube. The out and back looks to be the toughest part of the bike. I have a standard crank on my tri bike. Would I better off with a compact crank for this IM?

I did the race in 2011 with a standard crank up front and an 11-28 cassette in the rear and it seemed to work just fine for me. You should be fine with a standard crank just pay attention to what you have in the rear.

iruptacopula - 2013-03-20 4:00 PM I am still on the fence about IM Louisville. I just watched the bike course on youtube. The out and back looks to be the toughest part of the bike. I have a standard crank on my tri bike. Would I better off with a compact crank for this IM?

You can make the standard crank work just fine. If you plan on spinning up the hills though it would be better to change to a compact.

fwiw, I did Lou with a standard crank and switched to a compact for Moo the next year. I like the compact a lot better for hilly courses and really don't miss the top end. Once I'm going 35+ mph I might as well coast or soft pedal.